Builders' Forum Archives

Re: British Heavy

Posted by LeeG on Aug 3, 2004

I haven't heard of the term a "British Heavy" before,,although thick gel-coats and chop mat for the decks has been an element of British construction that contributes to weight. But even that's changing. Some British kayaks have lots of rocker, Pintail, some turn easily without lots of rocker, Romany, some kayaks have very distinct turning characteristics, Nigel Foster Kayaks, some are much more gentle when leaned, Orion. Some have little rocker, Nordkapp,,etc, etc. You really can't force a straight keeled kayak to turn, sure you can time the effort and extend your paddle out far,,but some kayaks are just as hard to turn leaned as flat. That a hard lean and sweep is necessary to make a hard to turn kayak turn doesn't in and of itself make it easy to turn. Some kayaks have a smooth transition in turning effort with leaning, some are abrupt. Both could be made in England or the US. I only know of a few foreign kayaks that are "multi-chined", where there are distinct corners running longitudinally,Prijon and some Latvian kayak,,the domestic equivalent can be found in Neckys various ruddered kayaks. Multichine is a reasonable term differentiating fourpanel s&g kayaks from s&g kayaks with more panels but it's really not a worthwhile term with composite hulls,,except for marketing zing.